SILPHA, in natural history, the carrion beetle. Antenna clavate ; the club perfo hate ; shells margined ; head prominent ; thorax somewhat flattened, margined. There are about 140 species, divided into sections. A. Lip dilated, bifid ; jaw-one. toothed. 13. Lip rounded, entire; jaw one-toothed. C. Lip horny, entire ; jaw hifid. 1). Lip emarginate, conic ; jaw Imfid.
E. Lip heart.shaped, etnarginate, crenate.
F. Lip square, emarginate. G. Lip long, entire ; antenna serrate. H. Lip and jaw unknown. The insects of this genus are usually found among decaying animal and vegetable substances ;.frequenting dung. hills, carrion, &c. and deposit their eggs chiefly in the latter. The larva arc of a lengthened shape, roughened with mi nute spines and protuberances. S. vespil lo is the most remarkable among Europe an species : this is not uncommon in our own country. The animal is about three. quarters of an inch long, and is distill. guished by having the wing-sheaths con siderably shorter than the abdomen. It
seeks some decaying animal substance, in which it may deposit its eggs, and for the greater security contrives to bury it under ground. Sometimes three or four insects, working in concert, have been known to drag under the surface the bo dy of a mole in the space of an hour, so that no trace of it has appeared above ground : the eggs are white and oval : from these are hatched the larva, which, when full grown, are more than an inch long. Each larva forms for itself an oval cell in the ground, in which it changes to a yellowish chrysalis, resembling that of a beetle, out of which, in somewhat lest than three weeks, proceeds the perfect insect. This species daises a strong and unpleasant smell ; it flies with con sidera5le strength and rapidity, and is ge ncrally seen on the wing during the hot test part of the clay.